Average rent for 1-bedroom apartments dips in Vancouver – but not by much

Metro Vancouver is seen in an aerial view in Vancouver, on Saturday, April 9, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

The average asking rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Vancouver dipped below $3,000 in August, even as the national average reached a new record high, according to the latest monthly report from Rentals.ca.

The modest month-over-month decline of 0.8 per cent brought Vancouver's average down to $2,988 – though the city remained the most expensive place in Canada for people looking to rent.

Toronto placed second once again, with the average asking price for a one-bedroom reaching $2,620, a 1.1 per cent increase over July.

Nationwide, landlords asked for an average of $2,117 for a one-bedroom last month – which set another record high for the country, according to Rentals.ca. That average represents a 1.8 per cent increase from the previous month, and a 9.6 per cent increase from August 2022.

"Despite rental apartment completions in Canada over the past 12 months reaching their highest level since the 1970s, rent growth has remained exceptionally strong," reads the Rentals.ca report. "This can be attributed to the country’s record-high population growth and sharp deterioration in homeownership affordability."

The data does not represent the average rents tenants are paying across the country, only the price of active listings across the Rentals.ca network. Long-term renters often pay well below market rates, which have been skyrocketing over recent years.

The cheapest and most expensive listings – those that are less than $500 per month or more than $5,000 per month – are removed from the calculations, according to the website.

Earlier this week, the B.C. government announced the maximum allowable rent increase for 2024 has been set at 3.5 per cent – marking the second consecutive hike set below the rate of inflation.

Normally, the province ties the increase to the average rate of the Consumer Price Index from the one-year period ending in July of the previous year.

Landlords are free to increase rent as much as they wish after a tenant moves out or is evicted, however – a situation tenants' advocates believe incentivizes abuse of eviction rules.